


Feline, Fearless, Faithful, and True

by lady_ragnell



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animal Shelter, Cats, Fluff, M/M, Pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 09:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9601652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_ragnell/pseuds/lady_ragnell
Summary: Enjolras comes into the animal shelter where Grantaire works looking for a cat, but he seems to be having trouble deciding which one to take home.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mizzyfreak7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizzyfreak7/gifts).



> Written for a fic-for-charity post from my tumblr, with many many thanks for **mizzyfreak7**. Thanks as always to **samyazaz** as well for catching my typos.
> 
> Title from Lloyd Webber's "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats," of course.

Grantaire is playing with the newest dog when Enjolras comes in, so he really only notices he's there when Enjolras is standing directly over him, clearing his throat. Grantaire starts and stares and suffers immediate and crushing defeat in a game of tug of war. “Can I do something for you?” He looks at the reception desk. Floréal is still sitting at the desk ready to check people in and ask them how she can help, emphatically not looking at him in a way that means she's leaving him to deal with whatever is happening right now.

“I didn't know you volunteer here,” says Enjolras, frowning down from on high while Grantaire absently pulls his hand out of the way of some errant teeth.

“A couple times a week, yeah. You aren't here for a dog, are you?”

“No, I'm not home enough for that. I thought a cat, though. It would give me reason to come home more often, and now that I'm living on my own it gets quiet.” Enjolras lowers his voice and his eyes like that's an admission of something. Loneliness, maybe. Courfeyrac tends to fill spaces up, and now that he and Marius are roommates Enjolras must be at loose ends.

“A cat. We can do that.” Grantaire stands up even though the dog starts whining at him and starts herding her back to her enclosure. She's going to go fast, he can already tell. Floréal has no doubt already made the Facebook post to call people in to meet her. “Did you have any particular cats in mind from the website?”

“I didn't look at the website,” says Enjolras, which isn't like him at all. He's still staring, Grantaire can tell even though he's got his back turned, and he fumbles with the latch on the door three times before he manages to get the dog inside her cage and squared away with some fresh water.

“Well, I'll introduce you to all the best animals around, I promise.”

They've got about twenty cats in the shelter at the moment. Grantaire, as always, stops at one of the boxes first, puts his hand up to the plexiglass only to get a lazy and unimpressed stare in return. “Who's that?” Enjolras asks, unnervingly close to his shoulder.

Grantaire tries not to look as startled as he feels. Floréal is watching, and he's already weird enough with Enjolras when they have their friends around as a buffer and often a glass of wine or three as well. He doesn't need to be a disaster when they're in private too. “This is Thursday. I call him the old man, he's as grumpy as my grandfather even though he's only four. He's been around six months, he's a tough one and most people don't want him because he looks scrappy with the tattered ear.”

Enjolras frowns. “This is a no-kill shelter, right?”

“You knew that before you came in, I am willing to bet, even if you didn't look on the website. Don't worry, the old man isn't going anywhere. Hell, if my apartment allowed pets, I'd have adopted him months ago, he actually likes me.” Grantaire frowns at Enjolras and then at the array of cats at various levels of interest and disinterest. “I'm going to try you out with Sunshine,” he decides, and ducks into the back to grab her.

Sunshine is a year old, a bright orange tabby who likes to make people work for her affection but who will play with a toy for an hour at a time with some encouragement and an audience and then curl up on the nearest lap once her loyalty is won.

Enjolras may not have looked at the website, but he's clearly figured out some cat etiquette. He sits on the floor in the animal meeting room with a hand extended, looking anywhere but where the cat is, so she can explore him to her satisfaction. “What's it called?” he asks Grantaire.

“She's named Sunshine, but obviously cats won't answer to anything so you can name her whatever you want. She's probably a good cat for you—doesn't get too needy if you ignore her for a couple days, but if she likes you she's willing to play with a little encouragement.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Pretty much since I moved here. I used to walk dogs at the shelter when I was a kid, and I needed a break from classes and shit here, so I take shifts when I can.”

When Grantaire looks up after talking to his lap for most of that statement, Sunshine is rubbing her head on Enjolras's outstretched hand, and Enjolras is smiling at her. Grantaire resists the urge to take a picture for their friends, and then decides to stop resisting the urge when she starts climbing on him. Enjolras looks up when the phone on Grantaire's camera clicks. “For the shelter's Facebook?”

“For Joly's snapchat, mostly. We usually only take pictures for the Facebook when one of the dogs or longer-term cats or weird animals gets taken. Though you two are adorable, it might get us some business. Are you already thinking about taking her?”

“I don't know. You have a lot of cats.” Enjolras is frowning like it's an extremely momentous decision. Of course he is. “I'll play with her for a little while more, though.”

Floréal is gesturing Grantaire out to the main room, so he stands up. “I'll leave you two to get acquainted and be back in five, okay? Floréal probably wants me to get back to settling in the new arrival from earlier.”

“Of course. I didn't mean to distract you from your work.”

“This is literally what I'm here to do, I'm just with the dogs today because Irma couldn't come in. Most of the time we have enough people that I can just be the cat guy.” He ducks out of the room, making sure Sunshine isn't going to sneak out with him, and lets Floréal send him off to do chores.

He ends up getting in a mess with the new dog, and twenty minutes later when he comes out of the back soaked and covered in dog hair, Floréal tells him that Enjolras left without a cat.

*

“Hey,” says Grantaire the next time Enjolras walks through the shelter doors. “Back for Sunshine?”

Enjolras shifts a little, looking uncomfortable. “I wanted to meet a few of the others, if that's okay. I liked Sunshine, but I want to be sure.”

“Sure, I can make that happen. There's a litter of kittens just ready for adoption, if that's what you want.”

“No, I'd rather have something a little more self-sufficient.” Enjolras is the one to lead the way to the cats this time, and he stops at Thursday's cage. “I want to meet him first.”

“He may actually slice you to ribbons, I have to advise you against that.”

Enjolras frowns. “I want to try. He might do a lot better in a home than he does here. I want to give him a chance.”

It's been almost two weeks since the last time someone showed any interest at all in Thursday while Grantaire was around, and Grantaire really does want him to have the chance for a new home. He goes in back to fetch him.

Thursday purrs when Grantaire picks him up and rubs his nose against Grantaire's chin, but he growls when he sees Enjolras in the meeting room. Grantaire puts him down anyway and shoos him in Enjolras's direction when he shows signs of just meowing at Grantaire's feet.

Enjolras doesn't seem to care that he's more interested in Grantaire, judging by the grin on his face. “He really is your cat, isn't he?”

“If only. He could be yours, if you can win his favor.”

“Hmm.” Enjolras offers Thursday his fingers to sniff. Thursday only bites them a little, which is as close to polite as he ever gets. “Is he good with other cats?”

“I mean, not in the cuddling-so-you-can-put-adorable-pictures-on-Instagram way, but he's less likely to gut them than he is humans. Are you thinking about eventually acquiring a hundred cats? I can't say that's what I envisioned your future like, but the picture has a certain allure.”

Enjolras smiles down at Thursday, who is now completely ignoring him, and then up at Grantaire. “I'd like to meet Princess Petal, please.”

Enjolras meets three more cats, plays politely with all three of them, makes faces at Sunshine through the plexiglass of her box and taps gently on Thursday's before he goes.

Still without a cat.

*

“I'd like to meet Waluigi, please,” says Enjolras.

Grantaire raises his eyebrows at him, bemused. “You don't have to meet every cat in this shelter, you know.”

“I want to make an informed decision.”

When he's done with Waluigi, who makes him bleed because he's the actual devil, Grantaire brings him Sunshine again, and then Thursday when Enjolras insists on it. Both of them end up hissing at each other and not cuddling with Enjolras at all, but Enjolras still seems satisfied when he explains that he has a meeting and promises to come back soon.

*

“Enjolras asked me about your schedule at the shelter today,” says Bossuet a few days later, wiggling his eyebrows.

Grantaire groans and rests his head in his hands.

*

“We're only open for ten more minutes,” Grantaire warns when Enjolras walks into the shelter while they're cleaning up.

“I'm actually not here for the cats—well, only to say hello to a few of them. Mostly I'm here because I don't have any plans for the night and I was wondering if you want to get dinner.”

Grantaire is getting much better at dealing with Enjolras in close quarters. He only sputters a little. “Sure, go wave at Sunshine. One of these days I'll convince you to just give in to the inevitable and take her home.”

Enjolras frowns over at all the cats. Four have gone home since he's started coming, including most of the litter of kittens, and two new ones have come in. No doubt Enjolras will want to get to know them as well. “I want to be sure I'm making the right decision.” He goes to Thursday's window first, of course, and taps on it, which Grantaire should really tell him not to do. Thursday, for once, doesn't hiss at him, just gives him the kind of disdainful look cats are so good at and goes back to grooming himself. “I like cats.”

“You can like cats just as much when they're at home with you.”

Enjolras, on his way over to visit Sunshine, who seems to have sensed that her favorite person is around if the way she's pressed up against her window is any indication, turns to give Grantaire a long look that makes him want to squirm and hide. “If you want me to stop coming in, I'll stop.”

“I just think you already have a clear preference and it's silly not to take her home.”

Enjolras is now communing with Sunshine through the glass. It's painfully cute, and Grantaire tries not to look. “She hasn't gone anywhere yet. I can afford to take a little time. Do you want to have dinner?”

This is not a date. It is not a date, because Grantaire is terrible at dates and Enjolras deserves a lot better than that. This is the two of them trying to be friends instead of Enjolras ignoring him and Grantaire making fun of him. They can talk about cats like they're a knitting group of old ladies. “Sure, I know a place that does great sandwiches not too far away,” he says.

Enjolras makes a ridiculous face at Sunshine and taps on the glass a few times before he stands up. “Come on, then. Can I help you shut down here before we go?”

Grantaire takes a few deep breaths. It's not a date.

*

“I always liked cats,” Enjolras says, gesturing with one hand and trying to keep his sandwich from falling apart with the other. “But my mother was allergic, so I never got to have one. I've been waiting until I was sure I was ready, and now I am. Have you always liked animals?”

Grantaire shrugs. “They make a lot more sense than people. I wanted to be a vet when I was a kid, but it took way too much science so I gave up on that. This is more fun anyway, the animals actually like me instead of cowering in fear.”

Enjolras is making some kind of face, but when Grantaire raises his eyebrows, he just shakes his head. “I never knew you liked them so much.”

“Why should you? There were plenty of other things to talk about.”

“Yes, but—” Enjolras frowns. That, at least, Grantaire is used to. “I just felt like I should have known,” he finally says, and Grantaire might not know how to interpret anything that's happening with Enjolras lately, but he's fairly sure that's not what he was going to say before he cut himself off.

“Well, I probably should have known that you make faces at cats. You always seem like you have so much dignity, and then you make faces at animals. I definitely should have known that.”

After a second, Enjolras's thoughtful frown melts into a smile. “I don't have very much dignity. Combeferre could tell you about the time I fell off a stage after introducing a speaker at a rally.”

“Or you could.”

To his surprise, Enjolras does, embroidering the story until Grantaire laughs, a little surprised. Enjolras is many things, gorgeous and stern and passionate, but Grantaire doesn't really think of him as funny. Apparently, though, he is. He'd almost rather not know that.

They're still not great at talking, full of awkward silences now that they're apparently trying actively not to snipe at each other, but after Enjolras tells his story, it goes better. Grantaire talks about the shelter and the new bookstore he found recently, and Enjolras talks about classes and getting used to living on his own now that Courfeyrac has moved out.

“We should do this again sometime,” says Enjolras after he's snatched the bill from under Grantaire's nose and left him sputtering.

Grantaire almost asks why they're suddenly friends now that Enjolras is looking for a cat, but he doesn't think he's going to get an answer. At least not one he understands. “Sure,” he says instead. “Next time it's my treat. I know a lot of great places. Next time you come in and fail to get a cat.”

Enjolras grins, sudden and bright. “You know you're only encouraging me to keep putting off choosing,” he says, and leads the way out of the restaurant, leaving Grantaire gaping behind him.

He lets Grantaire catch up, though, and has to be talked out of walking him all the way home.

Grantaire has no idea what to do with any of it.

*

A few days later, a girl asks about seeing Sunshine. Grantaire thinks about Enjolras saying _She hasn't gone anywhere yet_ and says, with no shame at all, “She's actually on hold for someone at the moment, sorry I haven't updated the sign. You know who's really friendly, though? Vivian. I bet you'll love her.”

Floréal sighs at him when he's helping the girl fill out adoption paperwork for Vivian, but she doesn't say anything, which is really all he could ask.

*

One day, Grantaire comes into the shelter after a long morning of class and goes to Thursday's enclosure only to find him gone, including the card that has all his information on it.

“Someone adopted him yesterday,” says Myriel, who runs the shelter but rarely takes shifts at the front desk. Floréal has a big project due this week, though, so he's been around more than usual. “I know you're fond of him, but he's settling into a good home. The two of them got along very well.”

That's good. Grantaire doesn't have plans to move out of his apartment anytime soon because the building isn't falling apart and he can afford the rent for a one-bedroom on his own, so he couldn't have adopted Thursday anyway. And if he had some stupid idea about Enjolras adopting him and inviting Grantaire over to say hello once in a while, at least he can let that go now and concentrate on getting Enjolras to admit that he's in love with Sunshine.

“Hey, they're here for adopting, right? I'll get a new favorite right away, no doubt. Did you take a picture for the Facebook page? He was here so long, we try to do it for the cats who have been around for a while.”

Myriel shrugs, sheepish. “I'm sorry, I didn't think of it. I leave the social media to you young people for good reason. I'm sure I wouldn't have known what … filters to use or anything like that.”

Grantaire smiles, because it's impossible not to smile at the nicest old man in the world and because it really is good that Thursday got adopted. “Oh well, I suppose the internet will have to do without his beautiful face. Maybe I'll make a post about all the cats we have hanging around here.”

Later, when he's feeling less stupidly heartbroken and more resigned, he texts Enjolras. _You're going to have to pick Sunshine, someone came and took Thursday._

_I'll take you out to dinner_ , Enjolras sends back, nothing about the cats at all.

*

Enjolras stops by at least every other shift Grantaire works at the shelter. Sometimes it's for five minutes. Sometimes he stops and plays with the cats, and Grantaire lies to a few more people about Sunshine, who's started hissing at people who want to see her sometimes anyway, although she refuses to remove herself from Enjolras whenever she can manage it.

Most often, though, he seems to show up five minutes before the end of Grantaire's shifts, and Grantaire isn't deep enough in denial to think he's doing it by accident. Especially when Enjolras out-and-out asks him for his schedule.

“You could just text me instead of coming all the way over here, if you're going to ask to hang out,” Grantaire says on one day when Enjolras only swept Sunshine out of her box for two minutes of intense cuddling before Grantaire's shift is done, even though the shelter isn't closing for the day yet.

“Could I?” Enjolras asks, giving Myriel a nod and a smile as they leave.

“Obviously you can. You have my number and everything.”

“I'm not just cornering you, am I?”

“No, just toying with Sunshine's emotions. If I didn't want to do whatever we're doing here, I wouldn't.”

Enjolras is in charge of picking their destination today, since he swore last time they had dinner that he knew of a place with good coffee and pastries Grantaire has to try, so Grantaire lets him lead them, content to stay quiet since Enjolras seems to be thinking that over. “What do you think we're doing here?” he finally asks, sounding more honestly curious than anything else.

If this were anyone but Enjolras, Grantaire would say they've been dating. They trade off who pays for their suddenly numerous and solitary meals together. They talk. They're getting to know each other better. But he still can't quite believe that it's anything more than that, so he frowns and figures out how to answer without sounding like a liar. “At the very least,” he settles on, “becoming better friends.”

“Yes, we are,” says Enjolras, immediate and warm, and Grantaire is relieved and disappointed and somehow more hopeful than he was before. He isn't completely sure that he likes it.

When Grantaire doesn't have an immediate answer, Enjolras changes the subject, a lot kinder than Grantaire would have given him credit for a few weeks before, and they don't talk about cats or why they're suddenly friends again until they're done eating and ready to head back to their respective apartments. They don't go back to one or the other of them to keep talking or play video or board games like they do when they're in groups, or like Grantaire would do with any of his other friends, but that's just one more difference among many. He doesn't mind. If he asked, Enjolras would probably go home with him, but he doesn't want to ask yet. Whatever this is, it's working fine right now.

“Why haven't you taken Sunshine home yet?” Grantaire asks when they're about to split off, because he can't help it, and Sunshine deserves a home, and she and Enjolras are clearly in love with each other.

“The timing hasn't been right,” says Enjolras, like that makes any sense at all.

“I've told a couple people they can't take her, but I'm not there all the time, and it will break her heart if some complete stranger comes and takes her away. I'm not telling you what to do, but you can still come in and say hello to the other cats if you want.” He clears his throat. “And me. You don't need Sunshine as an excuse to keep coming to see me. We're friends now, right?”

They're only half a block away from needing to go in opposite directions, but Enjolras takes his time before he answers. “Of course we are.” He reaches across the space between them and touches Grantaire's elbow. “And thanks for keeping her reserved for me. I'll come in soon and make it official. I promise.”

“Good. That's good.” And it is, even if it feels like the end of something despite Grantaire just telling them both that it wouldn't be.

“I think ...” Enjolras trails off and doesn't start again until they're standing on the corner, when he gives a decisive nod. “Maybe I'll adopt her sometime when you have time after it's done? You can come and make sure she's getting settled fine in my apartment. I'll make dinner. I've pretty much run out of eating-out money for the month.”

He's spent it all, or at least most of it, on Grantaire, and Grantaire is over his own budget by now, not that he ever pays as much attention to his budget as he should. “I think I'm free after my shift day after tomorrow. I'm done around four. Come on in, Sunshine and I will go home with you.”

Enjolras smiles at him, wide and bright and devastating. “I can't think of anything I'd like more.”

*

Floréal rolls her eyes at him for his nerves all through the shift, and for the way he has Sunshine's paperwork more than halfway filled out by the time Enjolras arrives, twenty minutes before Grantaire's shift is supposed to be done. Enjolras is all eagerness and excitement as soon as he's through the door, ignoring Floréal at the desk to find Grantaire where he's already loitering near the cats. “Can I see her?”

“You sound like you're waiting in a maternity ward or something. Yes, obviously.”

“I brought a cat carrier,” says Enjolras, like Grantaire can't see that very well. “So I can put her in and then fill out the paperwork.”

“Part of that's done.” Enjolras smiles at him, and Grantaire jerks a thumb at the door to the back. “I'll just go get her for you, shall I? She'll be really happy.”

“So will I.”

As Grantaire might have expected, it's a touching reunion when he hands Sunshine over to Enjolras, where she chirps at him and tries to climb all over him and generally doesn't seem inclined to go into the carrier at all even when Enjolras laughs and tries to explain to her like she understands that she's going to have to get into the carrier before he can get her home.

“I'll take her while you sign papers,” Grantaire offers, and is surprised to find that Sunshine is a lot happier to see him now than she used to be. She must realize that he's friends with her favorite person and that she's going to have to put up with him often enough that cold indifference won't work.

Enjolras talks to Grantaire and Sunshine in turn the whole time he's filling out the papers, mostly telling Sunshine how much he hopes she'll like her new home and complaining to Grantaire about one of his professors.

There are still ten minutes on Grantaire's shift when the paperwork is all filled out, but Floréal sighs at him when they show signs of fidgeting near the reception desk for the remainder of the time. “Get out of here, you're not doing me any good and you need to get her into a carrier and get him out of here before he changes his mind.”

Grantaire is not completely sure which one of them she's talking to and decides not to ask, since it turns out to take most of the rest of the ten minutes of his shift to get Sunshine settled into her carrier instead of in Enjolras's arms. Enjolras doesn't know it yet, but he's never going to get anything done again.

Sunshine meows the whole time they walk, and Enjolras keeps complaining about his professor and then listens to Grantaire bemoaning the new rabbit someone left at the shelter, which seems to have developed a passionate crush on Waluigi and pines when they don't get recreation time together.

Enjolras goes silent when they get to his building and stops before he puts his key in his door, turning to Grantaire. “There's a surprise in here. I really hope you're happy about it.”

“What kind of surprise?” Grantaire asks, but Enjolras is already letting them in, and Sunshine is meowing only to get an answer from a door, and a second later, there's Thursday, looking very pleased with himself, trotting out to inspect the interlopers on his domain. When he catches sight of Grantaire, he makes a few very emphatic noises and tries to climb his leg until Grantaire bends over and scoops him up and turns to look at Enjolras, who is managing to look both sheepish and smug. “Wait, _you're_ the one who adopted Thursday? Before you adopted Sunshine? Why?”

Enjolras kneels and opens up the cat carrier. Sunshine, a little shy and no doubt perturbed to find herself in Thursday's territory, doesn't come immediately bursting out, but she allows herself to be coaxed when Enjolras beckons her out and backs up a little, letting her get used to the new space. “Because you couldn't adopt him and you were so sad about it. And then I wanted him to get acclimated, so I had to put off getting Sunshine, but he's been a little calmer so I thought it was time to risk it. And I think Thursday missed you. He always wants to sit on my lap more when I've been with you.”

“He wasn't going anywhere fast,” says Grantaire, head still spinning. “You could have done it the other way. That would make sense.”

“I wanted to do it this way. Bring him down here? I want to make sure they get along.”

Grantaire puts Thursday down, over Thursday's objections, and shucks his jacket off before he kneels next to Enjolras on the floor while the cats stare at each other, ready either to fight or to decide on at least a temporary stay of the inevitable fight over who's in charge in the home. After a moment, Sunshine seems to decide that Grantaire belongs to Thursday, so her grip on the affections of her favored person hasn't been loosened, and Thursday seems to decide that Sunshine's presence is bearable if it brings Grantaire along with it, and then Grantaire is sitting on the floor with Enjolras, their knees almost touching, each of them with a cat in their laps. “I can't believe you got this terrible cat because of me.”

“We've reached a compromise, and like I said, he seems to know that I know you, so he doesn't mind.” Enjolras gives him a sidelong look. “You're welcome to visit him whenever you want. Just so you know. And the second you get an apartment that allows cats he's yours, I promise.”

In the face of that, Grantaire doesn't know if he has the luxury of denial anymore. Enjolras did this for him, has been doing his best to spend time together to the point that Grantaire sees him more than he sees any of the rest of their friends. Somehow, Enjolras saw him at the pet shelter and decided that he's worth his time and affection, and Grantaire thinks this is more than friendly. “Why?” he asks, because he needs to hear it.

Enjolras doesn't pretend to misunderstand him. “I finally got to know you. I genuinely wasn't sure about which cat I wanted the first time, and maybe even the second, but then I just liked getting to know you, and you were … I wasn't sure what you would do if I said I kept wanting to spend time with you.”

Grantaire wants to object and say that he's not some kind of fainting damsel who wouldn't have been able to handle Enjolras's attention, but considering how much trouble he's having after Enjolras making it all extremely obvious, he can't really blame him for being underhanded. “You got me a _cat_.”

“It would have broken both your hearts if someone else had adopted him.” Enjolras is smiling, maybe realizing that Grantaire is believing him, getting happier and less shocked by the second, because he's got a cat climbing on him and Enjolras has reached out to put one hand on his knee while he pets Sunshine with the other, and it seems like this is really happening. “May I kiss you?”

Grantaire doesn't think he can answer that without spending ten minutes spilling embarrassing secrets, but sometimes actions do better anyway. He kisses Enjolras, even though the sudden movement has Thursday yowling at him and digging his claws into Grantaire's jeans as he's jostled around. Enjolras is smiling against his mouth, and it doesn't make for a very graceful kiss, but Grantaire can't help smiling too, so he gives up and just tilts his head until they can press their foreheads together and smile. “Anytime you'd like to, as far as I'm concerned,” he says, and is glad he's only a little bit breathless.

“Good. That's good to know,” says Enjolras, and then he starts laughing, which Grantaire might feel offended by if he could manage anything like offense right now. “Look at the cats,” he says, pulling back enough that Grantaire can actually do it.

It seems Thursday and Sunshine have already become resigned to the fact that their humans want to be very close right now. They've both settled down, facing one another a little warily, but Grantaire thinks that very faintly, he can hear them both purring.


End file.
